I Just Wanted to Tell You That I Love You
by Star Way
Summary: [Complete]Ulrich is aware of the fact that he loves Yumi, but he isn't sure how to tell her. But does Yumi love Odd and not Ulrich? First fic, no flames, please! R&R! YxU mostly, with a little teeny bit of JxA.
1. You can't keep her in the Dark

**Before you read:** Wow, My very first fanfic. If you're reading this, you obviously decided to take the time to read it - and I'm so thankful for that. Seriously.

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Ulrich's p.o.v.

"ULRICH!!!!!" Sissy's whiny high-pitched squeal of a voice echoed across the soccer field as she walked toward me.

Oh great. The last thing I needed.

Odd was just about to try and kick the soccer ball into my goal when Sissy shrieked out my name. I sighed, and then looked at Odd. He stopped the ball with his foot and waited for me impatiently.

"What is it, Sissy?" my voice was as flat as death. Sissy was not someone I had wanted to see that day. Or any other day, for that matter.

She backed off slightly in seeing that I was not going to be any nicer to her that afternoon in September than I ever had been. "I-I just came by to say hi," she made her best pitiful look. "There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

God, I hate Sissy. She's always bothering me. If she isn't trying to make me look stupid in front of my friends, she'll be on the verge of tears when I'm not nice to her. I know she likes me. Often Odd teases me about this. I was beginning to think maybe Odd is jealous of all the attention I get from her. Odd is single...and I think maybe sort of lonely too. Of course, if I could, I'd gladly let him take my place.

Besides, I like Yumi.

"I'm kind of in the middle of something here," I motioned toward the soccer game. Odd stood a distance away, tapping his foot.

She stepped a little closer to me. Her shiny new high-heeled boots were now painfully close to my dirty sneakers. "I was hoping you might go somewhere with me," her eyes grew sort of soft and dreamy. "Somewhere where we could be alone, just the two of us?"

I looked at her with disgust. "Sissy, the last thing I'd ever do is go somewhere where we'd be alone together."

Hot angry tears began to form in her eyes. "Fine!" she burst out. "I just wanted you to be nice to me!"

"Sure Sissy, I'll be nice to you."

"You will?!?!" Sissy exclaimed.

"Sure. Right after I start jogging every morning and wearing sweater vests to class," I snickered.

"Ugh!" she stormed off.

Maybe I'm a mean person. Maybe I'm being unfair to Sissy. The truth is, however, that I can't stand her. I know she would give a whole damn lot just to be able to say I was hers and not be lying through her teeth. But there is nothing she can give me to make me want be be with her. Nothing. Her mind is so crowded with foolish quixotic ambitions that she fails to see the fact that I will not belong to her. Maybe this is why she feels the urge to come bother to me all the time. To interrupt my life and try, hard as she can, in her own way, to try change and my mind.

No such luck, girl.

Odd ran up to me. "What was that about?"

"Sissy being stupid. Again."

He rolled his eyes and laughed. "C'mon. Let's finish the game."

"No, sorry... I want to go see Yumi," I said.

Odd was amused. He began singing "Ulrich and Yumi sitting in a tree".

I gave Odd my most serious "not amused" face.

"You really like Yumi, don't you?" he said.

Oh, if Odd only knew. Just the mention of her name made me feel good inside. She was so smart and so pretty. Hell, that could be the biggest understatement a guy could make about Yumi. Yumi was beautiful. Inside and out. I couldn't get past that - how madly attracted to her I was - every time we spoke. Just to see her smile was like everything good in the world was radiating from her face. Sometimes I just wished I could touch her - the soft warmth of her skin. Just to feel her in an embrace.

I blushed. I couldn't help it. But I glared at him at the same time.

Grinning, he started to walk away. "I'm going to visit Jeremie and see how things in Lyoko are holding up. Catch you later."

Thinking of something else to say, he stopped. "Oh, and Ulrich..."

"What?"

"You're going to have to tell her how you feel one of these days. You can't keep her in the dark like you've been doing."

"I know," I mumbled, looking down.

Odd continued on his way to go see Jeremie.

I knew my friend was right, I would have to tell Yumi. But the thought scared me. My mind automatically came up with hundreds of scenarios where I'd tell Yumi and I'd get rejected somehow.

/Stop it./

"Ok," I decided. "I'll tell her today."

I walked off to find Yumi.

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**A/N: **Originally, this chapter had a lto more heat in between Ulrich and Yumi, but after reveiwing it I cut it out. What do you think? Please reveiw! 


	2. In the Forest with Yumi

**Yumi's p.o.v.**

I rolled my eyes after listening to the story of Ulrich's encounter with Sissy that afternoon. "I don't get something about you, Ulrich. You always take her so seriously."

"I just wish she'd stop bugging me," he said. "I mean, ugh, god, it seems like I can't go five minutes without seeing her stupid face..."

"Still, I'd say you need to loosen up a little bit. Stop treating everything like it's a biblical sign of the apocalypse," I laughed.

Ulrich and I were in the forest, sitting on the grass and talking. The birds here are kind of loud, but it's very peaceful aside from that. It's just a good place to be.

"I just want her out of my life," Ulrich said. "Besides, it's not like the world would be missing much if she wasn't around."

We both giggled ... even though the joke might be considered in bad taste to those who didn't know Sissy like we did, and didn't know how horrible the girl really is. But the fact that our jokes were bad just made us enjoy them even more.

I loved doing this. Just sitting around and talking. Ulrich and I always get into these really great conversations. We talk about everything together, and it's a lot of fun.

The sun was beginning to set. Through the trees you could see the bright sun glittering as it started to sink. We were both quite content.

He sat closer to me.

"Yumi, I want you to know something," he began.

"Yes?"

"Yumi, I... I just wanted to tell you that I..."

My call phone rang. "Oh, damn, sorry Ulrich, just a second."

I answered my phone. "Hello?"

It was Jeremie. "Yumi... I think you and Ulrich should come to the factory... something's wrong in Lyoko."

"We'll be right there," I said.


	3. Trouble in Lyoko

**A/N:** Um, yeah, remember in the summary when I said there was only a _tiny_ bit of Aelita/Jeremy action? Yeah. I wasn't kidding. Hah.

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p.o.v. switching from 1st person to 3rd...

"Yes Jeremie, I am certain I've been feeling pulsations around here. This makes me uncomfortable. It would be a great help if you could send someone to check it out with me." Aelita's smooth feminine voice made Jeremie blush.

"Ok, Aelita," Jeremie looked at us with the "who-wants-to-go-to-Lyoko" face.

"I'll go!" Odd volunteered happily.

"Alright, Odd," Jeremie said.

Odd, who had been sitting on the floor, jumped up, bounced into the scanner, and waited anxiously for the virtualization process to begin.

"Is it me or is Odd more hyper today than usual?" Yumi whispered to Ulrich.

"Someone probably gave him sugar. They should know better than to do that... Odd shouldn't have sugar, it makes him excited."

They both laughed to themselves.

"Ready?" asked Jeremie.

"Of course!" Odd replied energetically.

Jeremie started the scanner. "Scanner, Odd!" he announced. The scanner blasted every angle of Odd's body with light. When the computer got all of the data it needed from the scan, it started the virualization process.

Odd was just about to enter Lyoko when an error message appeared on Jeremie's computer screen. "Oh no..." Jeremie said. "Something's wrong!"

Ulrich and Yumi watched everything worriedly from a corner.

Meanwhile, Odd had entered Lyoko. Usually when you become virtualized, it's like having a jolt of energy shot through your body that keeps you going. Odd felt just the opposite, like all of his energy was being drained somehow.

"Jeremie..." Odd's voice came in through the computer. "I..."

"Odd! Are you ok? Something went wrong during virtualization!" Jeremie shouted.

"I...I feel weak... and....my super powers...." Odd was staggering back and forth, holding his head. His eyelids fluttered. "My super powers...I can't...use them....uhhh..."

"Oh no..." Jeremie said again. "Ok, I'm going to de-virtualiz-"

"Jeremie! Look, monsters!" Yumi exclaimed, concerned. Pointing to the warning on the computer screen, she was right, two cube monsters were headed in the direction of Odd and Aelita.

Before anyone could do anything, the cubes had appeared in their path, surrounding them. Odd fell to the ground. Aelita ran to him. Looking around anxiously, she tried franticly to get Odd to wake up. "Odd, please, get up! Oh please get up Odd! Please!" she shook him. He curled his body into a fetal position, obviously in some kind of pain.

A cube fired a shot. Aelita screamed as it hit Odd, and he was de-virtualized.

In the real world, Odd's body materialized inside the scanner, and he fell over. Was he even alive?


	4. Problems

**Yumi's p.o.v.**

I watched in horror as all of these events happened. I didn't know who's aid to come to first - to try and help Aelita with her problems in Lyoko, or to make sure Odd was ok. After debating with myself, I ran to Odd's side. Placing two fingers on his neck, I was relieved to feel the soft beating of his heart. I stroked his hair. "It'll be ok, Odd."

At least, I hoped it would be.

But what about Aelita?

I looked over my shoulder at Ulrich and Jeremie. Ulrich's face showed fear - Jeremie's showed utter horror. He was calling out Aelita's name over and over again, with no response.

Afraid of what might have happened, I called to the boys, not leaving Odd. "What's going on, guys?"

"We don't know, Aelita's not responding," Ulrich told me, his eyes never leaving the computer screen.

A crackling noise came from Lyoko. "Aelita?!" Jeremie called again. The crackling noise stopped, and then started again a second later. But this time, a voice could barely be heard as well. "Aelita!!!!!" Jeremie screamed. "Are you there?? Can you hear me?!"

"I'm here, Jeremie, and I can hear you," Aelita's voice was distorted and faint.

"Are you ok?!" Jeremie asked, relieved to hear her voice.

"Yes, I killed the monsters," Aelita said.

I mouthed the phrase "you go girl" silently, while smiling.

The boys were mystified. "How?!" they asked in unison.

"Well, you guys aren't the only ones with super powers." I could tell from the way her voice sounded that she was smiling, and proud of herself.

I returned my attention to Odd. His head was in my lap, and he was still out cold. Worried, I called the guys over to look at him.

"He doesn't look good... Ulrich, help me carry him to the infirmary," I said. Together, we picked up Odd and carried him into the elevator.

"I'll come by to see how he's doing in a little while, I need to stay here and find out what went wrong with the scanner..." Jeremie said.


	5. Shame

**Ulrich's p.o.v.**

"I think he'll be alright," a nurse at the school infirmary told us.

I breathed a sigh of relief. That was good news.

"I have to say, though," the nurse continued, "That I have no idea what could have caused this. There doesn't appear to be anything medically wrong with him... and you say he just collapsed?"

"Yes ma'am," Yumi told the nurse. "Completely out-of-the-blue. We were really worried!" Yumi was good at making a half-truth sound like a whole one.

"Hmmm..." the nurse looked Yumi over. "Well, in any case, your friend will be fine." With that, she went off to tend to another student.

We started walking away.

"So, um, Ulrich, today you said you had something you wanted to tell me?" Yumi looked over into my eyes.

I couldn't look back. Trying not to blush, I said, "Um, it was nothing. Just forget it."

She smiled at me. "Well, ok Ulrich. I'm going home now, I think... way too much drama for one day."

She started walking off in her own direction. "See you, Ulrich."

I waved good-bye, and then watched her as she walked down the hallway of the school, and outside. Only when she was out of sight did I finally start on the way back to my dorm. I stared at my shoelaces as I walked, ashamed that I couldn't even tell her the way I really felt.

I opened the door of my room, flung myself upon my bed, and, after thinking about everything that had happened that day, I fell into a deep sleep, in which I had a dream about Yumi that I couldn't remember upon waking.


	6. Yumi and Odd?

**Yumi's p.o.v.**

I woke up early the next morning so I could stop by the infirmary before class to see how Odd was doing. He had finally woken up, and, although sort of pale, he seemed to be in satisfactory health. But he looked so pitiful lying there on the bed, that I held his hand and talked to him for a bit. I told him about how Jeremie had called me last night and told me that the scanner that was causing problems just had a piece knocked out of place inside of it, and it was all fixed now. During our phone conversation he had also told me that everything was fine in Lyoko, and the pulsations had turned out to be a false alarm.

"That's good to hear," Odd said.

We talked a bit more, but then I had to leave.

Before I left for class, Odd called me back for a second. "Yumi?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for coming by to see me," his face was turning as purple as the streak in his hair. "I really enjoyed talking to you."

I smiled. "Of course, anything for a friend. Well, see you 'round, Odd. Get better soon, ok?"

He flashed me a grin. "Will-do. Later, Yumi."

I left, but decided to see him again after school.


	7. Over Reacting

**Ulrich's p.o.v.**

I had decided that after school I'd pay Odd a visit. I hadn't seen him since yesterday when we brought him in, and I wanted to know how he was doing. I hoped that Yumi and Jeremie wouldn't mind hanging out together that afternoon without me. Of course, even though I wanted to see Odd to make sure he was fine, I wanted to see Yumi too. Maybe today I could gather the courage to tell her how I feel.

I walked down the hallway, passing my dorm. Up the stairs. Around the corner.

Once at the infirmary, I walked into the room where Odd was. I was surprised to see Yumi there with him.

I was even more surprised when I saw that she was sitting on the bed he was lying on, holding his hand and talking and laughing.

I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. Did Yumi love Odd? No! How could she?

The two noticed me standing there. "Ulrich?" they both said in unison.

I just kept staring at them.

"Hey, Ulrich...you don't look so good." Yumi looked at me with concern.

"Yeah, maybe you should talk to the nurse. She's just right there," Odd suggested.

I backed away slightly, and then I turned around and ran out of the infirmary. I heard them calling out my name in worried confusion.

Was I over-reacting? Was Yumi, the love of my life, holding one of my best friend's hand out of innocent friendship? Or was she smiling at him with a passion only someone who loved him could do?

I got to my dorm. I closed the door, and sank down into a sitting position.

I reflected on a conversation I'd had with Yumi only a day before..

/'"I don't get something about you, Ulrich. You always take her so seriously," Yumi had said.

"I just wish she'd stop bugging me," said I. "I mean, ugh, god, it seems like I can't go five minutes without seeing her stupid face..."

"Still, I'd say you need to loosen up a little bit. Stop treating everything like it's a biblical sign of the apocalypse," Yumi laughed.'/

I thought about the last thing Yumi said. Yesterday it was funny. Today it made me wonder if it had a deeper meaning.

I lay down on my bed, staring at the plaster on the ceiling.

/Even if I am just over-reacting, and Yumi was just being a good friend to Odd...Why would she ever want me?/

I rolled onto my side, facing the wall. A tear slid down my face, making a dot of moisture on my comforter. I closed my eyes, feeling myself drift out of consciousness.

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**A/N:** Yes, I know, seeing people holding hands is usually thought of as a perfectly innocent sign of friendship... but they're in junior high, so everything is a big deal. ;)


	8. A Knock on the Door

**Still Ulrich's p.o.v.**

Slowly, I opened my eyes. As I awoke, I began to remember everything that had happened yesterday, and why I had been sad.

I looked out the window. It was dark outside, and a heavy rain was falling. The street light that was always on out there appeared distorted, due to the rain splashing up against my window. It made eerie greenish-blue patterns dance on the carpet of my dorm.

I looked at my watch, turning on the glow-in-the-dark feature so I could see the time. 4:47 AM.

I sat up, without turning the bedside light on, and rubbed my eyes. As I sat there, melancholy thoughts filled my mind like poisoned water, weighing me down and nauseating my senses.

I soft knock sounded at my door, bringing me out of my thoughts. Surprised, and wondering who it could be at this hour, I got up, and pressed my head against the door. "Who is it?" I whispered.

"Ulrich, it's Yumi. Open up."


	9. You Mean So Much To Me

**Yumi's p.o.v.**

Seeing Ulrich in the infirmary and his strange behavior had worried me so much that I decided to go see him. I was sure he was angry with me for something, though I didn't know what. I was about to knock on his door yesterday, right after the incident, but I lost my courage after thinking about it a little more.

But it kept bothering me so much, that I had woken up early that morning, and, after I couldn't stop thinking that something was wrong any longer, I decided to pay Ulrich a visit.

So I did. I snuck downstairs, grabbed my raincoat, and slipped outside. I ran through the pouring, ice cold wetness over to where the student dorms at our school were.

I finally got to his dorm room again, and, after a moment, I gingerly knocked three times.

I wanted to see him. I needed to see him. But in a way, I was hoping he wouldn't open the door for me. I was afraid of him, afraid of why he was so upset.

But he did open the door, and, though I couldn't see his face in the darkness, I could feel his sadness as it emanated from him. I almost felt like crying.

Without either of us speaking, I stepped inside, and he shut the door behind me. I took off my wet jacket, and sat down on his desk chair. He sat on his bed.

I didn't know how to begin. "It's kind of dark in here... don't you think?" That was the only thing that came to mind.

Without a word, he reached over and flicked the switch to turn on his bedside lamp. Its light splashed upon his face. His eyes made me shudder...they seemed to burn into my mind with an anger and sadness that could only come from someone who was not mad at me, but at himself.

"What do you want, Yumi?"

I thought a moment. "I just came by to see what was going on..."

He looked down. "You want to know about yesterday, don't you?"

I got up and sat on the bed with him, and grabbed his hand. "I want to know about you, Ulrich. I want to know what's going on,"

He looked over at me, and pulled his hand out of mine. "It doesn't matter."

Leaning forward slightly, I whispered, "Yes it does, Ulrich."

"No, it doesn't. I'm not what's important to you. Odd is what's important to you."

I was confused. "Odd? What does Odd have to do with this?"

He looked over at me. "You love him, don't you?"

I paused. "Yes," I told him.

He nodded, and got up. Standing with his back to me, he hung his head. "Go home, Yumi."

Tears began to flow down my cheeks. "Ulrich..."

Ulrich didn't turn around. "I said go home." His voice was cracking, like he was starting to cry too.

I stood up, and put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around so I could face him, and took his hand once again. "I do love Odd, Ulrich," I began, more tears running down my face. "But Ulrich, I love you too. I love both of you." I smiled through my tears and squeezed his hand as I said, "I-I love Jeremie too. You are a-all s-so special to me." I broke down crying much harder.

He didn't know what to say. Finally he took me into his arms, embracing me. I buried my face in his chest. "I love you Ulrich!" my voice was muffled, as I was talking into the warmth of his body.

"I love you too, Yumi," he said.

Pulling my head up to look at him, he continued. "That's what I wanted to tell you the other day."

"Oh Ulrich," I said, placing a hand on his cheek. "You mean so much to me."

He smiled, and kissed me on the forehead.

As he did so, I realized something. I loved Odd and Jeremie like brothers. I had always known that. I thought that was how I loved Ulrich too. But as the soft flesh of his lips pressed against my face, I knew I loved him in a different way then that.

I didn't even notice we were closing in on one another. When our lips touched I was almost startled, but as our kiss deepened, I sank into it, and let myself go.

It felt so good to kiss him. I didn't want to stop.

...But I knew I had to go soon, my parents would be worried if they didn't find me home in bed.

I broke the kiss.

Still crying, but smiling too, I looked into his eyes. Wordlessly I hugged him again, feeling his body against my own.

After pulling away, I grabbed my coat and started walking out of the room. I opened the door, and looked back at him. "Ulrich?"

"Yeah?"

"I really do love you."

"I love you too, Yumi."

I ran home, through the rain. It was cold. But I didn't notice. I was warm inside, because I knew that this was the beginning of something wonderful.


End file.
